What's your opinion on men with purses?

I’m of the opinion, as a man, that I’ll never carry one. I’m also of the opinion…..to each their own.

Errr, I know this is politically incorrect to say, but it’s just gay!

First off, this is not new. Secondly, geesh. Men need to carry things with them, too.

You mean a Man Bag? Hey if it works.

There’s nothing feminine about Lenny Kravitz. ‘nuff said
plus, I like it when my guy can help carry some stuff when I don’t feel like carrying a big bag

If it’s good enough for Jack Bauer, it’s good enough for me. As long as there are no rhinestones or zebra stripes.

And homophobia and mysogyny are to blame for it even being an issue.

A briefcase is a man-purse. It carries all the stuff, but none of the connotations.

@mcbealer I disagree.

@Snarp ~ you think he’s feminine?

I think they’re cute and they make me horny.
A man with a bag = confidence. Which is sexy.
In my opinion, whether or not they’re homosexual is irrelevant. It’s not an indicator into anyone’s sexuality.

At university I became used to seeing men carry book satchels, backpacks, gym bags. When one has to carry books and workout clothes etc. they need a bag. Then after uni I became accustomed to seeing brief cases and other ways men carry things. I got used to seeing bicyclists have bags to carry their stuff. A man bag to me is just another extension of any other carrying device. It is useful. I don’t think it is feminine unless it is pink with lace and sequence or glitter (if you find one like that please send me a link I want one). If you are really concerned I suppose a gym bag or backpack would accomplish the same thing.

Great. Validate the guy who uses gay in a negative conotation.

“unless it is pink with lace and sequence or glitter ”
Not that there is anything wrong with that.

And if a man chooses to have a Man bag that is like that. No question about it. He must be gay (happy).

@mcbealer Yes, I do. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him, but I definitely see his feminine side.

@tinyfaery sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive. I changed it to feminine. Thanks for teaching me.

With all the gadgets we have cords, chargers, adapters. ear phones, Glock, Duct tape and blind folds, a man suitcase would be more like it.

Personally? Geez, why not? I don’t see how they can get along with just pockets.

What is the public view? Less negative than maybe it used to be, but still looked at as a sissy boy accessory. Sorry.

It’s not a purse! It’s European!

Bags yes,purses no.

Meh.
There are some cultural associations for men who use them to overcome, but I wish them the best of luck with that. And homophobic inhibitions are for pussies. :P

I won’t use one myself, though. I think it’s impractical to have anything dangling from a shoulder. So I just keep my stuff in my pockets instead.

Fine with me. What do you do if you need to bring something with you somewhere? Married men give all their crap to their wives to carry.

I find backpacks more practical, they’re easier on your back if you’re carrying any weight any distance, and you have your hands totally free. It’s also just easier to move than with a shoulder strap across your body. The only practical advantage to a murse is that you can easily get things in and out without taking it off. I put that stuff in my pockets and don’t sweat it. I also have a great small backpack with a zipper on the side, I can flip one arm out easily and get stuff in and out easily through the side zipper.

@JLeslie Well, my wife gives me her crap to carry more often.

@Snarp ~ well, I respectfully disagree with you

I find bagpipers’ pouches to be sexy. And codpieces. What are codpieces, after all, but cock purses?

@Snarp How is that? Where do you put it? The only time a do that is when I am not carrying a purse, which is rare, like going to a bar or something like that.

@Snarp
I agree, backpacks are more practical. They’re symmetrical and more steady.

I refuse to hold it while they shop!

I thought it was called a “murse”. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest, as long as it matches with his shoes and hat.

@JLeslie In my pockets. I guess my wife just carries a purse less often than you do. Here, hold my money. Here, hold my keys. Here, hold my lip balm. Here, hold my water bottle – hey, where am I supposed to put a water bottle?

Nope don’t like. I guess I am an old fashioned fart. I like men with natural body smell, no handbags, and probably dresses funny, because he has no clue. Adorable!

@mcbealer Well I see femininity in that picture, we obviously just see it completely differently.

@Snarp LOL. Ok you get credit.

Who cares. There are far too many things in the world that do disturb me for me to even care what a person carries.

I’ll look at it and laugh within my head. But I wouldn’t ever say anything to him about it.

My opinion is that if it doesn’t fit in your pockets, either get bigger pockets, or carry around less unnecessary crap.

@Sarcasm What if it is necessary? Medication comes to mind. We girls have to deal with tampons, I think most people just think of make-up, and pens, etc.

I attempt to refrain from laughing. Out loud. In their faces.

It would take some of the pack burden off of me!

Funny story time! My husband is a macho kinda guy. He’s got a lot of upper body strength and he’s kinda big. Not fat, just muscular. When we were first dating we had gone somewhere with a bunch of the grandkids and we were staying in a hotel. Still in the process of getting to know each other, we choose to sit in the truck and talk and leave the kids in the room with TV. I hadda go pee, but knew if I went back to the room I’d get trapped!
The hotel faced an access road. I watched for several minutes, didn’t see one single car, so I slipped across the lot and hid behind some low bushes so no one from the hotel or parking lot could see me, although I wasn’t sheltered from the access road.
Well, sure as hell, soon as I started streaming, a freaking truck comes wandering up the darn road! I was like, “AHHHHH!!!!” And I put my hands up around my face trying to convince myself, and the people in the truck, that I was really a bush. (A trick I learned in HS drama. Gotta feel you really ARE a tree or a ball or whatever!) So I’m mumbling “I’m a bush! I’m a bush!” and waggling my fingers
I couldn’t help but peek up just to see if my acting was working….the guys in the truck were paying no attention to me whatsoever. They were staring at something across the parking lot.
About that time I finished, stood up and turned around….and there was my big, bearded, macho boyfriend sashaying like a girl across the hotel parking lot with my purse slung over his shoulder! Totally distracted the guys in the truck from me!
Must a been love! :)

Absolutely haven’t got any problem with it at all.It just ain’t my bag.

@Val123 what a great story. What a great guy. I’d fall in love with him, myself. (And none of us would really like the result of that.)

@CyanoticWasp Thank you! But, um, if you fell in love with him he’d prolly rip your head off cause you’re a guy and all!

@ucme Ha ha!

I personally am not a huge fan. But if I prefer to see a murse over those gucci fanny packs

@Val123 What a great story!! Now that is love!!

As far as men with purses, I thought it was a European Shoulder Bag.

lol.

@Val123 believe me, I would be upset if I fell in love with him, too, because I don’t swing that way—not that there’s anything wrong with that. And besides, if I do go that way, Tom Brady is still at the top of the list. But I like the way your guy noticed your need and immediately took care of you so well. He’s tops.

@CyanoticWasp It was pretty cool!

Jeebus, it’s a bag! Whatever.

We’re pussies. You got somethin’ to say about that?

Who was the first person to put forth the rule that a man couldn’t use a handbag without automatically being gay? Seriously, can somebody pull up some biblical verses about this for me? Should I go consult Leviticus for acceptable fashion protocol?

If a man walks past me carrying a handbag or purse I wouldn’t look twice or think him any less masculine for it. If he doesn’t give a shit what other people think about him then good for him. What a stupid rule.

Sometimes I’d really love to carry a man bag of some sort.

I know that being gay, I would only add to the stereotype, though, so I almost don’t want to do it for that reason. :( At this point, though, I’m fine with a backpack.

But I see nothing wrong with a “murse”. It’s only because it’s been associated primarily with women in the past that people view it as “feminine” or “gay”. But there’s nothing inherently feminine about carrying a bag in that fashion. I mean, I suppose if he carried a frilly $1000 Louis Vuitton purse with makeup inside, it might be a little different…

I put my coins in a small purse like thing in my coat pocket – because I got fed up with holes in my pockets !!
As Im European I couldnt care less what anyone thinks.
Didnt give a toss when I wore my kilt either !!

@Sandydog A kilt? (inhales through nostrils, slowly) Got any pics?

Yes – wore kilt at my wedding and also on other ocassions.
Wind blew a bit hard once and found that a bit awkward though:-)

@Sandydog I always though that’s what the sporran was for, keep the kilt down.

gay. but thats ok

They have as much crap to carry around as women do these days and until they start making pockets bigger,much bigger, they really don’t have much of a choice. Some of them look very masculine.

I have a feeling that if men do start carrying purses, they’ll be more like back packs, maybe worn over one shoulder, but resting on the back.

People are free to wear or carry what they will.

In Scotland, or elsewhere? [called a sporran when worn with kilts]

Did civil war soldiers carry a satchel for gunpowder and stuff? What did Davey Crocket put all his hunting knives and gear in? I never thought of this, but men must have been having to carry man stuff before. I am now curious about historical man bags.

@escapedone7 I think I can qualify as a “historical man” (unless that should be ‘an’ historical man), or maybe just an antique one.

I have used brief cases, computer bags, knapsacks / backpacks, gym bags, sail bags, ditty bags (sailing-related), duffel bags and suitcases. I’ve even carried diaper bags, and I know how to use ‘em (including the contents). I’ve packed and carried countless grocery bags cum trash bags, and at one time I had a newspaper bag.

But I’ve never carried anything that could or would be called or characterized as a ‘purse’, ‘man-purse’ or anything else that’s so undefined that it would have the name “man-bag” associated with it (we’re not talking about a scrotum here, I presume).

The Civil War-era bags you refer to were normally called “haversacks”, I think.

If Davey Crockett can carry a man bag, then, they have to be uber manly.

OMG Indiana Jones carried a man bag. Enough said!

A “Man Bag”? Where did that come from? Fluther-inspired? Not marketing, that’s fer sure!! Man Bag sounds like something between a man’s legs!

“Musette bag” i have heard. To market good-sized over-the-shoulder carryall bags in canvas or canvas and leather. Name comes from an army officer’s haversack. Macho enough to pass and the canvas/leather bags don’t look sissy either [or so the marketer would have you believe].

i don’t think anything of it. my husband always carries the diaper bag, and the lining is hot pink.

I’ve always wondered how they got along without them.

It’s only been a fashion issue for modern times. Cutpurse, a term for a thief, comes from the crime of cutting the straps that held a man’s purse, and fleeing with it.

The real cutting edge here is men in skirts, and Scottish dress does not count. Nor any other ethnic dress. Just men in skirts on Madison Avenue and Wall Street.
It has been tried repeatedly since the 80s by NY designers but always fails.
http://mensfashion.suite101.com/article.cfm/skirts_for_men_new_fashion_trend
WHY?

Note very hunky guy in kilt in article above if you go for brawny tattooed beer-drinking guys with long hair and skirts! Enlarge the pics!

I’m sorry, are we talking about men carrying a bag of some sort… or a man carrying a little purse to keep his change in… cos I thought the latter.
Bag – fine
Purse – gay

What most men seem to carry in Europe is neither a purse or a bag. More like a larger wallet type of thing, so terminology is different. Its different in the UK, and I haven’t seen them in the US or Canada either. Difficult to explain when I’m not even too sure what the continentals call them.

@escapedone7 I cited Jack Bauer, but Indiana Jones is really case closed on this, you’re right.

@CyanoticWasp Our diaper bag is a backpack, but it is covered in pink polka dots, and I carry it everywhere.

I’m in the UK and usually when I see a man with a bag its either a backpack or a messenger bag. Something like this:
http://www.secret-tech.com/images/TGHALO3-blk.jpg
I carry one sometimes, if I have a lot of stuff I need to carry.

@Snarp I would never laugh—not even involuntarily—at a man carrying a pink-polka-dotted diaper bag, whether as a backpack or tote bag. Been there; done that—got the adult children to show for it.

I can see the messenger bags being made of nicer materials and with some decorative gear but I only want to see them for carrying laptops or others things a briefcase or satchel would otherwise hold.